Strata Manufacturing’s “remarkable journey” – where next?

UAE’s Strata Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Mubadala Investment Company, launched at Dubai Airshow in 2009. As the company celebrated its eighth birthday at the latest event, we talked to CEO, Ismail Ali Abdulla, about the journey so far and what’s next.

He said: “We started with one production line and a handful of employees. Today, Strata has 10 [exclusive] production lines and 750 employees from 30 different nationalities.”

He noted that women constitute 86% of the international staff at the company, which stands at 51% of the workforce.

Strata is now a supplier to the biggest OEMs in the world, including Airbus on its A350, A330 and A380 programmes, as well as Boeing for the 777 and 787.

Abdulla commented: “It has been a remarkable journey to start from nothing to being one of the major aerostructure companies in the world.”

What’s next?

“We are here not only to talk about the previous eight years, but also to forge the path for the next eight years," Abdulla said. "We have signalled our intention to start manufacturing components for engines and we believe that's going to be ready by 2020."

The company has also announced its intention to enter into material manufacturing. It is establishing a joint venture with Belgian company Solway to manufacture pre-reg material, the carbon fibre that goes into the manufacturer of aircraft components.